The Deal Economy: Predictions and Perspectives

About This Event
The environment for M&A is constantly changing, and opportunistic dealmakers have realized that they must be creative to stay competitive and scale their businesses. Some of this thinking has been accelerated by the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, but what remains constant is the fact that private equity still has record amounts of capital to deploy, and dealmakers are being more creative and disruptive than ever before.
Have buyers’ and sellers’ expectations changed? With additional challenges and increased risk in every transaction, how have dealmakers refreshed their toolbox? What type of deal structures are favorable in the current market conditions? Will SPACs continue to play a significant role in the M&A market?
Join The Deal and a roster of senior corporate executives, private equity and institutional investors, and corporate advisers for The Deal Economy: Predictions and Perspectives. This event explores the opportunities, obstacles, and risks dealmakers face in the current environment and how to navigate through them.
The Hybrid Event Experience
ATTEND IN-PERSON AND EXPECT…
A safe place to connect and converse – To ensure a healthy, productive experience and per New York City guidelines, proof of Covid-19 vaccination will be required and must be shown upon entry. Additionally, the Events Shield, established in accordance with our parent company, Euromoney Institutional Investor, adds a further layer of best practice standards and guidelines.
Access to a stellar line-up of leading keynotes and speakers – A unique opportunity to be in the room with and engage directly with influential leaders on stage and during the event.
Continental breakfast and seated socially distanced lunch – Enjoy fine dining and great conversation with delegates, speakers and sponsors at the historic Metropolitan Club New York.
Live, in-person networking – Gain access to a distinguished audience of your peers, clients and friends in a Covid-secure setting as we return to in-person events.
Meet in person with our sponsorship group – Connect with key leaders and innovators in their markets and learn more about synergies between your firms.
All the benefits of our virtual offering – Delegates attending on the day will also have access to all the benefits of our virtual platform listed below.
CAN’T ATTEND IN-PERSON, THEN ATTEND VIRTUALLY
We are allowing individuals who can’t attend the event in person to join us online. All registrations will be by application only and include:
Live streaming of our agenda – Watch the phenomenal lineup of keynote interview and panel discussions.
Plentiful networking opportunities – Use our messaging function to reach out to peers and clients or make use of the AI matchmaking functionality to make new connections! Rate connections and download the full contact details for easy follow ups post-event.
Speakers
Elizabeth Mily is Executive Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, at Bristol Myers Squibb. In this role, she oversees the company strategy and all business development activities, including strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, as well as other strategic initiatives.
Agenda
The M&A landscape is constantly changing, and the evolution of the dealmaking environment has been accelerated by the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, unprecedented stimulus packages and the change in U.S. administration. What sectors should opportunistic dealmakers be exploring? What obstacles or pitfalls may affect deal flow? In this new environment, how can dealmakers justify and position a proposed merger for a deal that seemingly can’t get done and what are key strategic steps that should be built into the plan? What does the new regulatory approval landscape look like? What role will M&A play in the overall global economic recovery?
Moderator: J. Neely, Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions Lead, Accenture Strategy
Panelist: Barry Blake, Global Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking, SVB Leerink
Panelist: Yue Bonnet, Principal, The Carlyle Group
Panelist: Jelena Guzenko, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Americas, Siemens Energy
Panelist: Julia Papastavridis, Managing Director, Aon
Panelist: Melissa Scanlan, Vice President, IP & Antitrust, T-Mobile
Interviewer: Armie Lee, Reporter, The Deal
Elizabeth A. Mily, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Bristol Myers Squibb
Private Equity professionals continue to feel bullish and have a positive outlook for M&A, due to favorable credit conditions and large amounts of available dry powder. The market is seeing PE firms gravitating toward partnerships, co-investing and structured equity investments to remain flexible and creative. In such a competitive market, returns should be compressing but why are they not? What are the pressure points that are moving forward, or holding back the industry as a whole? How are ESG and investor demands shaping the way investors are approaching deals? What are investor expectations for the rest of the year and into 2022?
Moderator: Bruce K. Fenton, Partner, Troutman Pepper
Panelist: Vivianne Akriche, Managing Director, Eurazeo
Panelist: Jeffrey Armbrister, Head of Direct Equity Investments, Hamilton Lane
Panelist: Jason Strife, Head of Private Equity & Junior Capital, Churchill Asset Management
It’s clear that M&A will continue to be a key strategic pillar for companies, with dealmakers expecting mergers and acquisitions to contribute significantly to their growth over the next few years. A combination of defensive and offensive M&A strategies should develop as companies attempt to preserve existing markets, accelerate recovery, and position themselves for growth. How are buyers assessing valuations amid the recovery? Have sellers’ expectations changed? What type of deal structures are favorable in the current market conditions? With an awareness for increased risks, what type of insurance and risk mitigation strategies are being established to protect all parties in the deal?
Moderator: David Marcus, Senior Writer, The Deal
Panelist: Deepak Gupta, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Covanta
Panelist: Chandradev Mehta, Director, Mergers and Acquisitions, LyondellBasell Industries
Panelist: Christina Ungaro, VP, Head of Corporate Development, Wind River
Successful integration is imperative to avoiding the risks of a merger or acquisition, and it is complicated by the fact that every deal is unique, and no two deals can be integrated the same way. Having a strong and proactive M&A integration plan is imperative to ensuring that the deal lives up to its projected value, and post-merger planning must start very early in the deal process. Companies must develop an integration strategy that includes a fundamental rethink of due diligence and discovery to ensure that the right skills are engaged at the right time to deliver a comprehensive plan for day one and beyond.
Moderator: Nikitha Sattiraju, Reporter, The Deal
Panelist: Desiree Castillejos, Chief Strategy Officer & VP of Corporate Development, Kimball Electronics
Panelist: Brian Walters, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Matthews International
Panelist: Alexandros Aldous, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Chief Government Relations Officer, The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc.
Panelist: Ronald Prague, Former Chief Legal Officer, Synchronoss Technologies, Inc.
Companies that transformed through innovation and technology during the pandemic have emerged stronger, with increased efficiency and new products and services that disrupted the market. Valuations remain high, targets are coming from a growing pool of sellers, paused deals are re-emerging and private equity still has record amounts of capital to deploy. What role will M&A play in the overall global economic recovery? What sectors are dealmakers looking at for growth? What is the outlook for fundraising, and alternative deal structures? Will cross-border and cross-sector deals present opportunity during the recovery? What obstacles may affect deal flow?
Moderator: Kimberly Smith, Partner and Global Chair, Corporate Department, Katten
Panelist: Jaime Forsyth, Managing Director, Monomoy Capital Partners
Panelist: Jennifer Lee, Principal, Edison Partners
Panelist: Heather Madland, Partner, Huron Capital
Panelist: Meahgan O’Grady, Director, Business Development, Palladium Equity Partners
This past year has seen successes an array of campaigns by shareholder activists with an increased focus on ESG practices and several campaigns with a strong M&A theme. How important are ESG themes in an activism campaign? How is the M&A market currently being influenced by shareholder activism and vice versa? With the recent influx of SPAC entities on public exchanges, will we soon see a wave of SPAC activism? How do investors and proxy advisor firms think about these issues?
Moderator: Derek Zaba, Partner and Co-Chair, Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense Practice, Sidley
Panelist: Ben Axler, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Spruce Point Capital Management
Panelist: Josh Hochberg, General Manager, Edelman
Panelist: David Rosewater, Managing Director, Investment Banking Division, Morgan Stanley
ESG initiatives can severely impact profits and must be considered during the due diligence process of a transaction. How are buyers and investors evaluating targets based on ESG and sustainability transparency? How can these efforts affect valuations and sale processes? How do sellers ensure they are maximizing their ESG initiatives and show they are making progress on sustainability initiatives? What are the most important things for sellers to address when it comes to ESG?
Moderator: Ronald Orol, Senior Editor, The Deal
Panelist: Doug Barnard, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, CF Industries
Panelist: Michael Hyun, Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, PSEG
SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, have seen a recent resurgence but with new regulatory scrutiny, high-profile enforcement actions and high redemptions, longstanding concerns about the public shell companies have been revived. The SPAC market may have cooled a bit, but dealmakers are confident that the market will work out its current issues. How is the M&A market reacting the recent downturn? What will it take to revive the market?
Moderator: Jason Osborn, Partner, Winston & Strawn
Panelist: Guy Barudin, Director, Chardan
Panelist: David Dobkin, CFO, LifeSci Acquisition Corp.
Panelist: Eklavya Saraf, Global Head of SPAC Listings & Managing Director of New Listings, Nasdaq
- Investors have maintained a high level of interest in the pharmaceuticals, life sciences and healthcare services sectors.
- Will M&A deal activity and valuations continue to run high?
- Who will be the winners and losers, post-vaccine and post-crisis?
- Continued growth is expected in cross-sector deals with digital and technology companies.
Moderators: Samuel Maizel, Chair, Distressed Health Care, Dentons and Tania Moyron, Partner, Dentons
On-Site Conference Details
Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Time: Registration opens at 8:30am; First session starts at 9:00am
Vaccination Requirement: To ensure a healthy, productive experience and per New York City guidelines, proof of Covid-19 vaccination will be required and must be shown upon entry. Additionally, the Events Shield, established in accordance with our parent company, Euromoney Institutional Investor, adds a further layer of best practice standards and guidelines. More details regarding this will be included in communications to registered delegates.
Location: Metropolitan Club New York, One East Sixtieth Street, New York, NY 10022
Dress code: Business Formal: No jeans, leggings or sneakers. Men must wear jacket & tie.
Health & Safety Advisory
If you have a fever, cough, shortness of breath, feeling unwell or suspect to have symptoms of COVID-19, please seek medical attention and do not attend the event.
Health & Safety Measures
We are closely working with the event venue to keep you as safe as possible during the event and we will be providing further information in due course on the precautions we will be taking. This information will be updated regularly to reflect local guidance.
Additionally, the Events Shield, established in accordance with our parent company, Euromoney Institutional Investor, adds a further layer of best practice standards and guidelines, which will be applied across all The Deal events. This comprehensive set of enhanced measures has been designed to provide our clientele with the confidence that at any Deal event around the world, we are striving to provide the highest standards of safety, hygiene, cleanliness and quality.
Physical Distancing
Events will maintain a maximum capacity and density of participants in accordance with relevant official government and regional guidance.
Health and Hygiene
The emphasis will be on encouraging good personal health and hygiene with additional handwashing and sanitation stations available. We will work with the venue to ensure we maintain the highest standards of hygiene and cleanliness.
Protection and Defense
All participants, partners and staff must abide by the health and safety procedures and protocols we put in place.
Communication and Alerts
We will be communicating our health and safety standards, procedures and event guidance to all involved in advance and on the day of the event.
View Videos
Please fill out the form to view the videos on-demand now.